Irrigation adapter for closed urinary drainage system



y 26, 1970 v. VAILLANCOURT E'IAL 3,513,849

IRRIGATION ADAPTER FOR CLOSED URINARY DRAINAGE SYSTEM Filed May 14, 1968INVENTORS BY W ildi VINE ATTO NEYS United States Patent 3,513,849IRRIGATION ADAPTER FOR CLOSED URINARY DRAINAGE SYSTEM Vincent L.Vaillancourt, Livingston, and George A. Walck III, Somerville, N.J.,assignors to C. R. Bard In-c., Murray Hill, N.J., a corporation of NewYork Filed May 14, 1968, Ser. No. 728,979 Int. Cl. A61m 27/00 U.S. Cl.128-349 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An adapter for interpositionbetween a catheter and a drainage tube, formed with a closable openingin axial alinement with the inlet end of the adapter and an offsetopening to receive the end of the drainage tube, the closable openingbeing designed to receive the tip of a syringe, for irrigation or thelike, and means being provided for sealingly engaging the syringe tip toprevent leakage.

This invention relates to an adapter to be installed in a closed urinarydrainage system which provides for intermittent irrigation andaspiration, whenever desired, without disconnecting any of the elementsproviding the drainage path, the adapter being designed to permitaspiration with a syring directly into the catheter with no pressureloss due to change in direction of the fluid being used to aspirate, incontrast to the operation of known systems where the irrigation liquidis supplied through a side arm or Y-connector with a substantial changein direction of flow. The present adapter is also designed so that thesyringe tip seals 01f the drainage path and also forms a new, straightirrigation path as close as possible to the funnel of the catheter.

A practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 represents an elevation of a closed urinary drainage system,including the irrigation adapter, parts being broken away;

FIG. 2 represents an axial section through the adapter with anirrigation syringe inserted, parts being in section and parts beingbroken away, and

FIG. 3 represents a detail section showing the irrigation inlet closedby its combined cap and plug.

The closed drainage system of FIG. 1 comprises a Foley retentioncatheter 1 having a balloon inflation funnel 2 with valve 3 and drainagefunnel 4, the special adapter 5, drainage tube 6 and a receptacleindicated conventionally at 7.

The adapter has a normally tapered end 8 for engagement in the funnel 4of the catheter, and is provided with an integrally molded side arm 9connected to the main body 10 by a bridge 11. Within the end 8 the bore12 of the adapter is of uniform cross section, while the interior '13 ofthe body 10 is slightly larger and tapers toward an internal shoulder 14at the base of the end 8. The drainage path is constituted by the bore12, the adjoining portion of the body interior 13, a connecting passage15 in the bridge 11 and the bore 16 in the side arm 9 which is designedto receive the end of the drainage tube 6 in the manner of a normaladapter.

The interior 13 of the body is coaxial with the bore 8 and is open atits end opposite the shoulder 14, the open end being closable by acombined seal, cap and plug 17, preferably of a rubber-like material.This latter includes a cylindrical portion 18 adapted to engage securelyaround the open end of the body 10, an annular flange 19 which occludesslightly the periphery of the opening, a connecting strip 20, and acap-plug 21, the cap portion 22 being designed to fit snugly around thecylindrical 3,513,849 Patented May 26, 1970 portion 18 and over theflange 19, while the plug 23 is proportioned to fill the greater part ofthe body interior 13 between the passage '15 and the open end, for apurpose described below, all as shown in detail in FIG. 3.

With the cap-plug in place the system operates in a normal manner,liquid draining through the catheter, the bore 12, the body interior 13,passage 15 and bore 16, to the drainage tube 6. The volume and rate offlow of urinary drainage are such that the angularity of the path isimmaterial and the orientation of the adapter about the axis of the end8 and body 10 is not critical; gravity alone tends to turn the adapterto lie flat on its side so that the drainage path would usually not havean up-hill portion.

When interruption of the drainage, for irrigation or medication, isindicated, the cap-plug 21 is removed and the tapering tip T of thesyringe S is inserted. Such syringe tips are of several basic types,varying somewhat in length, diameter and/or taper, and the presentadapted is so proportioned that the sides of the tips of the most widelyused syringes will seal tightly against the edge of the shoulder 14 andalso against the annular flange 19. The end of the syringe tip extendsslightly beyond the shoulder 14 into the bore 12, the lumen of the tipbeing coaxial with said bore so that the liquid from the syringe flowsdirectly, in a straight line, into the catheter (and thence into thepatient) with minimum resistance. The seals formed by the syringe tip at14 and 19, each side of the passage 15 eliminate the possibility of backflow or leakage from the drainage tube, and the irrigation liquidlikewise cannot escape or be spilled.

The element 24 shown on the end of the side arm opposite the drainagetube represents a filtered vent of any suitable type, the provision ofwhich is optional butv desirable, for bleeding air into the drainagesystem near its highest point and thus eliminating negative pressure inthe catheter.

The closed drainage system is shown as including a Foley catheter, butthe irrigation adapted could prove equally useful in systems employingother types of catheters Pezzer, Malecot, etc.) where intermittentdrainage and irrigation is anticipated.

It will be understood that various changes may be made in the form,construction and arrangement of the several parts without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention and hence We do not intend to belimited to the details shown or described herein except as the same areincluded in the claims or may be required by disclosures of the priorart.

What we claim is:

1. An adapter for a use in a closed urinary drainage system comprising amain body having a bore extending therethrough for straight line passageof liquid, one end of said body being designed for engagement with thedrainage funnel of a catheter or the like and the other end of said bodybeing provided with an openable closure element, a side arm having abore therein, said bore being designed for engagement with an end of adrainage tube, and a bridge connecting said main body and said side arm,the bridge being traversed by a passage connecting the bore of the sidearm with the bore in the main body at a point intermediate the ends ofthe latter.

2. An adapter according to claim 1 in which the main body, the side armand the bridge are integral.

3. An adapter according to claim 1 in which the closure element includesa removable plug and a radially inwardly projecting annular flange ofresilient material.

4. An adapter according to claim 3 in which the plug is of a size tofill at least a major portion of the bore in the main body between theannular flange and the point of connection of the passage in the bridgewith the bore in the main body.

5. An adapter according to claim 1 in which the bore in the main body isformed with an annular shoulder between the first named end of said bodyand the point of connection of the passage in the bridge with said mainbody bore.

6. An adapter according to claim 5 in which the annular shoulder has asmaller interior diameter than any part of the bore in the main bodybetween said shoulder and said other end of the main body.

7. An adapter according to claim 5 in which the closure element includesa radially inwardly projecting annular flange of resilient material, andin which said flange and said shoulder are so proportioned that bothwill sealingly engage the sides of a syringe tip inserted in the bore ofthe main body past said flange and said shoulder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,087,492 4/1963 Garth 1283503,409,015 11/1968 Swanson 128349 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner US.Cl. X.R.

